IT for Treasurers - Frequently Asked Questions
Treasurers sometimes ask questions about using the Quaker spreadsheets, and so a few of them are summarised here.
General accounting questions
Q: I don't yet have any software. What should I get?
The spreadsheets for Quaker treasurers were created with Microsoft Excel, which is a part of Microsoft Office. They do not work with more basic systems such as Microsoft Works, MS Office Starter Edition, MS Office Web Apps, GoogleDocs, or with systems dating from before 1997.
If you want to buy Microsoft Office specifically for your Meeting, then ask Peter Illingworth at Friends House, email peteri@quaker.org.uk , about the Microsoft discount rate for charities.
OpenOffice and LibreOffice are both completely free office software packages that you can download them from the internet. They provide a word processor like Word, a spreadsheet like Excel, and lots more. There's a version of the treasurers' spreadsheets converted to work with OpenOffice and LibreOffice.
If your Quaker Meeting is busier than average you may like to consider professional accounting software, rather than a spreadsheet. This could store details of all the Meeting House room-hire clients and print their invoices automatically. QuickBooks from Intuit is a popular software package for small businesses, and Paxton Charities Accounting is one designed especially for charities.
One option is to use a copy of Paxton Charities Accounting at the Area Meeting level and enter the data sent by the Local Meetings every month. The LM treasurers could each use the Cash Book spreadsheet week by week, but all the end-of-year processing would be done automatically by Paxton.
Q: How can I get more help?
Each spreadsheet has a user guide, the Cash Book spreadsheet has a built-in help system and a set of training videos, and you can ask your nearby Quaker treasurers for help. You can email a request for help to the address given at the front of the User Guide, and don't forget the treasurers' courses at Woodbrooke.
Cash Book Spreadsheet Questions
Q: If I just type a number in the date column, why does it assume the month is January, even in the table for February?
In the Cash Book spreadsheet the date is used in the processing of Gift Aid claims, and so, whichever monthly table you are using, you must enter it in full with day, month, and year. If you omit the year Excel may assume you mean 1900, which it regards as year zero. You must use the slash character in dates and not a dot, i.e. "3/4/12" and not "3.4.12" .
Q: Why does the Totals button sometimes do nothing at all?
Along with most of the buttons on the toolbars, the Totals and Reconcile command buttons are not active while you are editing the contents of a cell. You can tell when you are editing a cell because a green tick and a red cross appear on the formula bar. Nothing will happen if you click on a command button at this time. You must finish editing the cell first and then try again.
Q: Can I add a second Reference column in the Cash Book spreadsheet?
Yes, you can add an extra Reference column to store additional information about receipts or payments separate from the text in the Description. Any such extra column must be immediately adjacent to the original Reference column, either on the left or the right. Remember, however, that you can also include extra reference information in the text in the "Description" cells, which wrap the text onto as many rows as you need.
Q: I have added some extra columns to the "Payments" worksheet in the Cash Book spreadsheet. Why don't the entries in these columns get added to the totals in column E?
The recommended procedure for inserting extra columns is described in the user guide. It involves duplicating one of the existing columns. To ensure that the entries in the new columns are included in the totals you must not duplicate either the first or the last data column.
Q: I have added some rows to a monthly table. Why are they are not included in the total at the bottom of the table? Why do I get a cross-casting error message?
This is like the previous question turned on its side, and the recommended procedure is also given in the user guide. You can select one or more rows and then insert blank rows, but you must not include the first row of the table in your selection.
End of Year Spreadsheet Questions
There are no questions. Do you have one you'd like answered? Then email it to the address shown in the User Guide.
AM Consolidation Spreadsheet Questions
Q: How do I cope with a Trustees' narrative report that is longer than one page and won't fit in the text box provided? If I extend the text box it doesn't print correctly across the page break.
Excel does not deal properly with a text box that spans a page break. One solution is to leave the first text box on page 1, and insert a new page with a second text box. Once you have filled the first text box you must start typing in the second one. This makes editing a bit awkward, but you can easily type the report in a word processor and then copy and paste the two parts separately into the two text boxes.
